Photography Websites- No More Flash

[err_ok]

I was going to argue, but what's the point.

That's got some interesting (apparently unbiased) comparisons - HTML5 vs Flash

 

[quiddity]

argument and point of view are irrelevent

fact is more people are getting ipad and iphone. the trend is increasing not decreasing.
you need to make a unbiased decision to ensure EVERYONE can see your site or not.

sent from my ipad

 

[Derrel]

Apple has been able to implement its will in the past, many times... I would not take Garbz's approach and call Steve Jobs, "the incoherent rantings of a single CEO." Why?
Apple was able to exert tremendous leverage over the personal computer and music player businesses. How you ask? Small things, like installing CD-ROM drives in ALL of its computers...small things like developing web-based motion video...small things like turning USB from a forgotten POS connection system to the one used in every iMac and Macintosh and then,amazingly, into all PCS as well...the development of Firewire....the development of on-line MP3 sales and delivery...the first company to REALLY capitalize on online music sales and to almost print money out of thin air...

Yeah...sure Garbz...Steve Jobs and "the incoherent rantings of a single CEO" have greatly influenced the personal computing experience that you and everybody on this board is enjoying today...but then, you're probably too young to remember computers before motion video, or even before USB connectivity and "plug n play"...

The real villain in this game is Adobe and the hard-on they have for your dollars...Adobe is treading on thin ice I think, and is endangering the goose and the golden egg supply by acting monopolistic toward other large players, like Apple. If there is one,single company not to cross, it is Apple. it used to be Microsoft, but they have lost out because they don't make hardware,and therefore lack leverage at the "device" level; witness the pathetic sales of the Zune MP3 player versus the iPod....one is a resounding success, and is the MOST-expensive device in its class. The Microsoft offering is a joke.

 

[o hey tyler]

Can't view a Flash Website on your iPhone or iPad?

It's okay, let me just pull out my Droid and I'll show it to you on the go.

**** iProducts.

 

[err_ok]

Let's not pull out the 'iProducts are ****' && 'Boo to the droid' statements.

They're both as good as each other (ok well with android it depends entirely on the phone manufacturer, some are quite terrible)

 

[o hey tyler]

Let's not pull out the 'iProducts are ****' && 'Boo to the droid' statements.

They're both as good as each other (ok well with android it depends entirely on the phone manufacturer, some are quite terrible)

I'm sorry, did I hurt your feelings?

Droids can run flash, right? iPhone's can't. I said nothing inaccurate, and you aren't going to be the one to tell me that I can't voice my opinion.

Thanks.

 

[loopy]

I disagree with Apple's decision to not support flash...but as a web designer I advise my clients against using flash unless they have a legitimate reason (gaming / heavy animation). Even then, I'd never make an entire website in flash.

Even though I have flash installed, as soon as I see the preloader - I leave. While flash can be implemented in great ways, I find this is rarely the case. As a general rule, you have 5 seconds to convince your user to stay on your website, most flash sites I've seen take longer than that to load.

While you can do some SEO with flash, you will still be losing out. Simply put, your flash website isn't as search engine friendly as an html one.

Most photographers websites I've see could (and probably should) be done in html.

 

[12sndsgood]

Can't view a Flash Website on your iPhone or iPad?

It's okay, let me just pull out my Droid and I'll show it to you on the go.

**** iProducts.

so if your running a business does it make more sence to base your website off of something half the people can view. or something that everyone can view?

 

[o hey tyler]

Can't view a Flash Website on your iPhone or iPad?

It's okay, let me just pull out my Droid and I'll show it to you on the go.

**** iProducts.

so if your running a business does it make more sence to base your website off of something half the people can view. or something that everyone can view?

Haha, half the people in the world using solely mobile devices to view web content? That's funny.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

Well, Tyler, if you feel the need to limit exposure to a business, you just keep on fighting the good fight.


Posted from my iPad.

 

[quiddity]

digital prints for the masses ... pfft said kodak
online movies ... pfft said blockbuster

you should never ignore current fads in business you never now which is going to become the norm

 

[dnavarrojr]

Around here where I am, I have found that women are more apt to use mobile browsing devices than computers. And if you're a wedding photographer, that means they can't view your site. My fiance is one of those people... She has a laptop she uses for doing homework (she's gone back to college), but she does 99% of her web browsing on an iPad she won. And since winning the iPad and showing it off to a umber of coworkers and friends (mostly women), many of them have purchased iPads.

From a purely business point of view, I think business web sites should at least have an HTML version. And when I was a full-time web developer, every company I worked for avoided flash for anything other than advertisements stuck in the corner of a page.

Yes, I think some Flash web sites "look cool". But most (in my opinion) do not. And personally I can't stand to be on a flash only web site.

 

[GeneralBenson]

I surprised that loopy was the first one to bring up the possibly biggest factor. Google can't index Flash content. The hit on SEO and Google rankings for having pretty much all of your content go un-indexed is a huge drawback, and should be a giant red flag for any photographer who is pro, semi-pro or hoping to be pro. Unless you are Chase Jarvis, and the whole world already knows who you are and will search for you by name, then everything you can do to get yourself higher on searches is not enough.

But then again, I guess this whole topic has two very different answers based on something that hasn't been clarified yet. Are you trying to make a living from photography, or is it just a hobby? If it's just a hobby and you just want to share your images with people, then who cares what you do. If some people can't see your site, and never come back, it's no big loss.

But if you're trying to make a living from photography, it's foolish to turn away from such a large chunk of the market. Blah blah blah, the Droid is great. Fine it's great, I don't care. TONS of people still have iPhones, and a growing number of people are using iPad as their primary web surfing device. I have an iPhone and an iPad, and I do more surfing on the two of them than I do on my laptop. And when I come to a website that is flash-based an won't open on my iPad, I close it and never go back. I'm not going to go fire up my laptop so I can go look at some site.

In the circles I travel in, which is mostly professional editorial/commercial photographers, photo editors, art directors, and other media professionals, the Apple world dominates everything else by about 2:1. The vast majority of people have iPhones, and many of them have an iPad. It would be downright stupid for me to cut them off from my website and make it so they can only view it at their desk.

Twiter and Facebook are without a doubt the two leading ways in which information and web content are shared these days, and many people are now doing the majority of their social networking on mobile devices. That means that when someone I follow tweets, "Hey, check out this great photographer", and I try to go check them out and get a lank page because it's a flash page, guess what? I'm not looking at it, and I'm never going to. Not because I don't care, but because I can't. And even if I care enough to want to check it later, I'll probably forget. Links are so frequently shared these days, that you have to fight hard for people's attention. Anything you do to make it harder for people to view your site, will result in them navigating away and not coming back.

This isn't about whether the iPhone or Droid is better. No one cares. I love how it used to be cool to have an iPhone and think you were better than everyone else. But then too many people got iPhone, and now it's cool to have not an iPhone and think you're cooler than anyone that has one. Some people are just always looking for a reason to be a part of the elite minority that gets to think they're better than everyone else.

The bottom line is that if you are trying to make a living from photography, then you simply can't afford to build a website that cuts so many people off from viewing it.

 

[o hey tyler]

In this thread: iProduct purchasers who are upset about the lack of support for flash.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I have an iPhone, and iPad, and am not upset about not seeing flash sites. It's not my loss. You shouldn't assume anybody is upset, really.

I am currently streaming a DVD from my PC through WiFi.
I am much more excited about that, than wishing I could view flash sites.